In our prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/497,620, we disclosed and claimed a method for making an artificial onlay tooth crown or inlay for fit into a prepared tooth cavity in which a negative reproduction of the cavity is first made, a core is copy milled from the negative reproduction including a surface abutting the cavity as well as an external surface and then a veneer was applied to at least part of the external surface of the core.
The present invention relates to methods of manufacturing accurately shaped artificial veneer restorations for natural teeth from a high strength ceramic material with powder technological methods.
Veneer restorations can be fixed on natural teeth for, e.g., aesthetic reasons, if the natural teeth are for some reason discolored. Veneer restorations can be made by using conventional dental porcelain technique on a model from the prepared tooth. The model material has no dimensional changes of importance at temperatures up to 1200.degree. C. When the veneer restoration is ready, the model material is removed by sand blasting.
The problem with the ceramic material now used (dental porcelain) in veneer restorations is their brittleness, which often gives early fracture.